Tag: healthy lifestyle

Cannabis Use For The Health Conscious

2 Comments

Up until recently cannabis has had but two types of stereotypical users, sick people and stoners. Both of those uses are very appropriate for the cannabis plant but please let me shed more light on a giant sector of people who have stepped into the circle …the health conscious.

Here is what, cannabis is a natural, non-toxic supplement for your endocannabinoid system, the same system that you boost every time you exercise, get good sleep, and stop to smell the roses (terpenes).

What does it look like to use cannabis for your health if you are not trying to get high or treat a serious illness?

5 Ways To Use Cannabis In Your Healthy Lifestyle:

  1. Use Cannabis Infused Topicals. Your skin is your largest organ and a wonderful way to get cannabinoids to your CB2 receptors which will not be intoxicating but can help to regulate your body’s functions. Try a cannabis infused bath before bed, an all over infused lotion after the shower, or take your favorite infused massage oil to your masseuse and enjoy the next level of relaxation. Choose a topical with the terpenes you want to affect you as well.
  2. Drink your cannabis greens. If you are able to grow your own or some how have access to fresh cannabis leaves or small buds, put them in your smoothies. While the research has yet to fully inform us that this is the most superior way to use cannabis for your health, I can tell you from personal experience that I have felt my healthiest when I add this type of fresh cannabis in my diet. Eating raw cannabis aids in healthy digestion and helps to support the liver.
  3. Use cannabis infused edibles. When is a good time to use edibles? I suggest in the evening to wind down and help with sleep, after a tough workout to ease tired muscles, and to help relieve physical stress. Look for a larger ratio of CBD to THC but try for as full of a cannabinoid spectrum as possible in your edibles. Know that everybody feels a little different with edible cannabis so you will need to experiment and find your right dose and times to use them. Oftentimes less is more with edibles and even a low microdose that you can’t feel can have potential homeostatic effects on your nervous system.
  4. Use terpenes and cannabinoids as athletic training tools. I know a lot of athletes and exercisers who will vape or smoke a motivating cannabis strain or low dose edibles before a marathon, hike, or yoga class to help them slip into the mind body connection and improve their performance and experience.
  5. Using cannabis for meditation. One of the biggest ways to boost your health is to start meditating. Same as above with using it for exercise, cannabis can be used as a focusing tool to help you connect with your breath and bring you deeper.

There you have it, healthy people are benefiting from legalization.

Raw Cannabis And Spirulina Smoothie Recipe

5 Comments

For those of you who know how much I like to eat the color green AND how much I enjoy all things marijuana, you know that I am in heaven when I can eat raw cannabis. I use it in all sorts of things from smoothies to salads.

One important thing I’ve learned about eating cannabis (and any leafy green vegetable, actually) is that you will get a better nutritional payback when you eat it raw. When you cook a green many of the nutrients are destroyed that work synergistically with each other in your body. Consuming your greens raw ensures you get all the plant has to offer.

When you are eating greens it is worth your time to completely chew (even if it is a smoothie) and allow the food you eat to really mix with your saliva before swallowing. This allows the enzymes in your saliva to mix with the food, start the digestive process, setting you up for optimal nutrient absorption and digestion.  Take your time, chew, breathe.

The smoothie recipe that follows was my breakfast one day this week. It gave me energy and filled me up without any psychoactive effects from the cannabis. And it came out the prettiest color of green.

IMG_0706

Raw Cannabis and Spirulina Smoothie

30g cannabis leaves

1 blood orange

1 banana

1T hemp seed

1T spirulina

1C coconut milk

1/4C fresh coconut (totally optional)

IMG_07111) Blend.

IMG_07102) Drink immediately and enjoy.

IMG_0719The deep green color of this smoothie is amazing. It screams vitamins and minerals and healthy energy.

Eat Raw Cannabis!

 

The Positive Sides Of Scoliosis

32 Comments

Scoliosis2017

Scoliosis is bleak, every single part of it. If you are somebody who is inflicted with this challenging health condition you already know that living with a twisted spine can be scary, daunting, defeating, debilitating, and lonely. I feel all of that.

Since age 12 I have been repeatedly told I need surgery and have been prescribed and given samples of pain killers, muscles relaxers, and anti-inflammatories because of my scoliotic spine. I was once told by one doctor never to hang and told by the next to hang everyday. I have spent more time than I care to count wasted in physical therapists and specialists offices who did nothing for me besides tell me to keep doing what I am doing with pilates, yoga, and as a fitness trainer. They like to tell me that my spine will get worse with each aging year, until it eventually crushes my heart and internal organs and potentially collapses on itself. Like I said, bleak.

Scoliosis is much more than just a twisted spine. It is a neuromuscular disorder that may also manifest with other health conditions such as digestive disorders, muscle spasms, depression, anxiety, migraines, etc.

I put a lot of effort into the function of my spine and have since I was a teenager because I realized at an early age that I would always have to be mindful of my special back, it was never going away. I think about how I want to move as I age and move accordingly. More than once I have completely changed my livelihood, activities, and/or my food in order to manage it holistically without surgery or prescribed medications.

One of the toughest things about scoliosis is how lonely it can be. I have a lot of energy and rarely ‘complain’ about my back pain and focus on healthy things so on the outside it looks like I am a super health nut doing just fine with my spine. People don’t see the pain or discomfort that I am generally feeling because I keep it to myself. That’s no good.

June is Scoliosis Awareness Month

What is the positive side of Scoliosis?

  1. I’ve become very in tune with my body. Pain, discomfort and constantly needing to think about standing straight or straightening your clothes will do that to a person. On another level, when I’ve tuned in with with meditation and exercise I’ve been taught by my body how to cope and move through the world.
  2. I’ve been forced to be a ‘healthy person’ to function. Living a healthy lifestyle is not an option like it seems to be for most people and it can be really tough to be the only one at the party not drinking booze or eating sugar. But hey, you’re at the party! While it is tough, living healthy is a good and positive thing to keep as a priority, always.
  3. I look at body image much differently. When I am able to embrace myself as different I am also able to let go of what I think I am supposed to be and love who I am, imperfections and all. I tend to be very grateful for all I can physically do no matter how small.
  4. My spine contributes to me being highly sensitive, empathic, and wise. I can’t explain why but it just does. Spiney senses.
  5. I’ve become a powerful warrior of chronic pain with special strengths and coping skills that makes me strong enough to handle not only my own pain but also help others handle their pains. My spine is the reason that I started teaching fitness as a teenager and the reason that I went to Institute of Integrative Nutrition in 2010, I have a deep desire to help people feel well.

I am participating in Scoliosis Awareness Month by writing this and sharing a picture of me beside an X-ray of my spine. Funny, it was much harder to post a picture of my bare back than to post a picture of my X-rays. I worked through it.

Sending out much love and double hugs to those who live with or support somebody with scoliosis.

Pam Dyer is a Holistic Health Coach who trains people with scoliosis and chronic illness how they can improve sleep, gut health, immunity, and brain function to live full and hurt less.  To book a consult with Pam please email:  butterflysessions@gmail.com